The Ghost
by WinterGrace816
Summary: Autumn is scared and running. She manages to find Team Flash and ask for help with her ability. She slowly becomes part of the team and helps to protect Central City. Abandoned.
1. Chapter 1

I race down the alleyway, terror coursing through my veins. I hear feet pounding against the pavement, my pursuers only a few yards behind me. Suddenly, agony courses through my body, radiating from my thigh. One of assailants must have gotten tired of the chase and thrown the knife that was now embedded in my leg. _Can't slow down-have to run through the pain._ I look back to see where the group is, and everything comes crashing down around me. I had lost my footing and fallen; my pursuers were on me in a second. I black out for a few minutes, and when I wake up, they're gone. I try to move, but I immediately stop as agony wracks through my body. I can feel my heart slowing and my lungs struggling. I manage to turn my head to the side, desperately looking for someone, anyone, to help me. As I'm slowly dying, I see a bright light in the distance. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I think that it's pretty. Soon, everything goes black, and I stop breathing. My heart stops beating, and I die. Then, something strange happened: I woke up.

It is pitch black, and no matter how I try to move, I hit a wall. I start pounding the ceiling, somehow managing to break through. Dirt pours through the hole, covering me completely. I claw at the dirt, trying to dig my way out. It takes far too long, and I almost suffocate, but I eventually break the surface. I look around frantically, trying to find out where I am. I realize I am in a graveyard, and next to me is a gravestone-my gravestone. I run. I don't know where I'm going, but eventually, I come across a store selling newspapers. That's not the date. It can't be. It's three months too late.

I see an article about the particle accelerator. It exploded, causing a wave of dark matter to go throughout the city.

That must have been the light I saw.

I leave. I have a lot to figure out, like why I'm not dead.

My name is Autumn Grace, and I have become the impossible. I cannot die. Trust me-I've tried. It has been six months since I woke up in my own grave. More people like me have been spotted, but no one believes it. To be fair, nine months ago I wouldn't have believed it either. During that time, a streak of lightning was sighted in the city. I decided to investigate and travelled to a crime scene and stayed in the shadows. I saw a man in a red suit, running faster than should be humanly possible. I had to find out more. I followed him back to Star Labs, barely keeping up. I walk into the lab and see four people. Three men, one in a wheelchair, and a woman, all talking to each other. They seem to be arguing, that is, until they notice me.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" The man in the red suit, whom I decide to call Sparky, asks with a snarl.


	2. Chapter 2

They were all looking at me, awaiting an answer as to why I was here. Instead, I ask a question of my own. "How do you do that?" I ask, tilting my head to the side curiously.

"Do what?" Sparky asks, confused as to what I was talking about.

"Run that fast; I mean that's not humanly possible, so logically, you should not exist. So, how do you do it?" I ask, though, I can't say much about the impossibility of it, being what I am. As the other three people in the room stare at me suspiciously, I start to feel uncomfortable and start picking at my nails. I never liked people staring at me, but it's gotten worse after I died. I look very different from before. My skin is so pale, it almost looks gray, and my eyes are now magenta and seem to glow. I hate it, so I try to cover it up as much as possible.

"I was affected by the particle accelerator explosion. The night it happened, I was struck by lightning, and was in a coma for nine months. When I woke up, I could run this fast," he explains with a gentle smile.

I can tell he has noticed my anxiety and is trying to help. I can, also, tell that none of the others are happy that he told me all of that, but I have other things to worry about. "Others were affected," I manage to whisper hoarsely. I clear my throat and ask louder, "If you were also affected can you help me, please." My voice breaks a little at the end. I clear my throat, embarrassed at getting so emotional.

All four of their faces soften considerably, and the woman comes forward. "My name is Dr. Caitlin Snow. Do you know how you were affected? If you could tell us, we could run some tests to see if we can help you," she says with a small smile on her face.

I look away because I know that they won't believe me—I barely believe myself!

She seems to sense that as she says, "Don't worry about how impossible it sounds. Look at him, he can run a mile in three seconds, so we won't judge you."

I gather up my courage, and, still looking away, I say, "I can't die." I hear one of the men scoff. I knew they would think I was stupid! I start to leave, but someone grabs my arm and holds me in place. I turn around and see Sparky (I should really find out his name) holding onto my arm.

"What do you mean you can't die?"

I can tell he's genuinely trying to help, so I say, "I can technically die. It's what happens after that's weird. No matter how I die, I always wake up. I don't even have the scars as proof that I'm not just crazy. No matter how badly I'm hurt or how many scars I should have, I never have any!" I stop and realize I'm rambling. "Look, I don't know what happening to me. Please, can you help me?" I ask softly.

"Yes, we can," he says, looking me straight in the eyes with a friendly smile.


	3. Chapter 3

I stared at the paper that was held in my shaking hands in utter disbelief. The tests had been run multiple times, but it made no sense. It shouldn't have been possible, but then again I should be dead. There was no other explanation, so this must be true. I tuned in as Caitlin, the only other person who had seen the test results, explained what was wrong with me.

"Autumn's cells are in a constant cycle of degeneration and regeneration, because of this any wound she sustains will heal in a matter of minutes, any disease is almost immediately purged from her system, she can regrow limbs in a matter of hours, and come back from the dead. How long it takes her to come back depends on how she died. For example, a gunshot wound would only take a few minutes, but drowning would take a few hours," Caitlin explained.

She had pulled up a diagram of my body while I hadn't been paying attention. I started laughing hysterically, trying to laugh off the fear, but soon I was sobbing, clawing at my own skin. Distantly, I felt a hand on my shoulder and a voice trying to get my attention, but I was too far gone into the panic and fear. I felt someone hugging me and whispering soothing words into my ears. Slowly, I started to calm down. I looked up to see that Sparky (who I now know as Barry Allen) was the one holding me - I was in his lap. Scrambling away quickly, I apologized for causing such a scene.

"Hey, it's okay. You don't have to apologize," Sparky grinned. Suddenly a phone was ringing I nearly jumped out of my skin in fear. He snickered as he answered the phone. "Barry Allan . . . Iris slow down . . . I completely forgot," he held the phone and muted screaming could be heard. I giggled a little at his misfortune. He playfully scowled at me, putting the phone back up to his ear. "Something came up at the station . . . yeah see you soon . . . I'll try not to be too late, bye." He hung up the phone, dragging out the last syllable. "I have to go meet Iris, but call me if you need me." He rushed out.

"Can I come too?" I interjected before he could get out the door.

He looked at me questioningly.

I glanced down and blush as I say, "I don't want to be alone."

He looks at me, probably hesitant to bring me along after my little breakdown, but he conceded. He picked me up, and I immediately cried out in alarm, but he assured me that he wouldn't drop me and that he didn't have a car so he had to use his superspeed to get us there. I nodded slowly and wrapped my arms around his neck. We were of like a flash. Time to meet this "Iris," I suppose.


	4. Goodbye, Autumn

Hello readers. I am sorry to say that I will not be continuing The Ghost. I wrote this story when my depression was really bad and I was not okay, and that fact came through in my writing and character design. Autumn was the manifestation of my feelings at the time. The sorrow, constantly feeling like something was wrong with me, and the suicidal tendencies were all aspects of myself that were portrayed by this character. I am doing so much better now, but I can't write her anymore. She brings up too many bad memories from a time when I felt like the world was against me. So I'm sorry to the people who read this story and liked it, but I can't go into that mindset anymore. It's just too dark of a place for my mind to go, too dark a place to want to go. I may end up revitalizing this character in some way, but that probably won't be for a while and she won't be the same. If you truly like my writing, I have other stories that I am currently working on, but none of them are _Flash_ related at the moment. Again, I am truly sorry, but this is the end of The Ghost.


End file.
